An interesting new campaign emerged from Brazil this week, from the infamous Billboard music magazine. It pushes slightly against the grain in that, where increasing circulation is normally the immediate aim for publishers, this campaign is more concerned with creating a bubble of exclusivity – and making everyone else feel like they’re just not cool enough.
Setting up a vending machine to dispense its magazine, Billboard invited passers-by to plug in their smartphone, so that the machine could run a quick scan and determine whether the user had enough of the “right” music on their phone to warrant a free copy of the mag. If not, you must pay, like everyone else. The barrier to entry is quite high; 20 or more songs by that issue’s featured cover artist, with billboard seeking to reward what it calls ‘true’ music fans.
The idea of consumers plugging their phone into a machine to be ‘scanned’, is a development we haven’t seen before – especially just to judge how cool they are. Billboard magazine are looking for a reaction. Rolling Stone got a reaction for its recent controversial front cover – its sales doubled!
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